Method for sharing and searching playlists

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a method for making a playlist available to the public. In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for creating a playlist comprising user-defined descriptor information. In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for searching for such public playlists.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/657,222, filed Feb. 28, 2005, entitled A SYSTEM AND METHOD FORDELIVERING MEDIA OVER A NETWORK, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/678,718, filed May 5, 2005, entitled A SYSTEM AND METHOD FORDELIVERING MEDIA OVER A NETWORK, both of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The expansion of the Internet and the World Wide Web (“web”) has givencomputer users the enhanced ability to listen to and to watch variousdifferent forms of media through their computers. This media can be inthe form of audio music, music videos, television programs, sportingevents or any other form of audio or video media that a user wishes towatch or listen to. As time evolved, users were able to take the musicthat was on that compact disc store it on their computers and listen toit locally. More recently, web systems were developed which allowed auser log on to a network such as the Internet and, using a media player,either listen to specific media chosen from a group of media that aparticular service has to offer or listen to an array of media offeringssuch as a radio station wherein different songs or other forms of mediaare combined to allow a user to listen to a group of songs in sequence,whether chosen by the user or by the operators of the network service.For example such a service is Yahoo™ Music. Many media players, servicesand other software tools enable media to be organized by a user or aservice into playlists, which, as the name connotes, are groups or listsof media files or file identifiers that can be used to effect playbackby a user in a sequence or other selected or random order. Further, oncea playlist is created, a user may manipulate and edit the playlistsfreely. However, what is lacking in each of the currently availablesystems is a method in which a user may easily share or make publiclyavailable created playlists wherein such public playlists are searchableby key input parameters. Further, the current art lacks a sophisticatedmethod of creating a playlist searchable by user-defined descriptorinformation.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for making aplaylist available to the public. In another embodiment, the presentdisclosure provides a method for creating a playlist comprisinguser-defined descriptor information, which can be entered as free formtext or prose rather than preselected information like a static genre orshort title. In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides amethod for searching for such public playlists.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method ofidentifying a published playlist comprising receiving, from a searchingentity, search criteria representing a desire to identify a playlist;accessing a playlist storage, the playlist storage comprising userpublished playlists, some or all of the published playlists comprisingassociated user-defined playlist descriptor information, theuser-defined playlist descriptor information comprising user developedtext; searching the playlist storage to identify a desired playlistresult set comprising user published playlists with user-definedplaylist descriptor information relevant to the search criteria; andcommunicating the desired playlist result set to the searching entity.

In one embodiment, the searching entity comprises a user located on acomputing device. In one embodiment, the searching entity comprises asoftware program.

In one embodiment, the search criteria comprises a mood associated withthe desired playlist, a situation associated with the desired playlist,and/or an event associated with the desired playlist.

In one embodiment, the playlist storage is located on a server, on theinternet, and/or is located as a part of an online media service.

In one embodiment, the desired playlist result set comprises a playlistidentifier. In one embodiment, the identifier is a uniform resourcelocator, a pointer, and/or a universal resource indicator.

In one embodiment, the desired playlist result set comprises metadataassociated with the desired playlist results set, and/or a permissionlevel for accessing the desired playlist results. In one embodiment, thepermission level is associated with an online media service. In oneembodiment, the desired playlist result set comprises an id associatedwith the desired playlist.

In one embodiment, the method of identifying a published playlistfurther comprises facilitating the display of the desired playlistresult set at computing device associated with the searching entity.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides for a method ofcreating a searchable playlist comprising: receiving at least one mediafile selection indicating the desire to include at least one media filein a playlist; receiving user-defined playlist descriptor informationassociated with the playlist, the user-defined playlist descriptorinformation comprising user developed text; receiving an inputindicating the desire to designate the playlist as public, the publicdesignation causing user-defined playlist descriptor information andinformation associated with the playlist to be searchable by a searchingentity; and communicating to a playlist storage, user-defined playlistdescriptor information and the associated playlist information so thatthe user developed text can be searched by a searching entity.

In one embodiment, identifying a published playlist, the playliststorage is located on a server, and/or the internet.

In one embodiment, the playlist storage is located as a part of anonline media service.

In one embodiment, the published playlist information comprisesinformation associated with at least one media file, the titleassociated with the media file, the artist associated with the mediafile, the genre associated with the media file, and/or a ratingassociated with the media file.

In one embodiment, the searching entity comprises a user and/or asoftware program.

In one embodiment, the user developed text is searchable by search inputcriteria. In one embodiment, the search criteria comprises a moodassociated with the playlist, a situation associated with the desiredplaylist, and/or an event associated with the desired playlist.

In one embodiment, the user defined text comprises a mood associatedwith the desired playlist, a situation associated with the desiredplaylist, and/or an event associated with the desired playlist.

In one embodiment, the format comprises a set of searchable fieldentries. In one embodiment, the set of searchable field entries comprisea portion of the user defined text, all of the user defined text, and/ora portion of the playlist information.

In one embodiment, the method of creating a searchable playlist furthercomprises synchronizing, upon receiving an edit to the playlist, theuser-defined playlist descriptor information and the associated playlistinformation with the playlist storage.

In one embodiment, the edit comprises an input indicating the desire todesignate the playlist as private.

In one embodiment, storing the user-defined playlist descriptorinformation and the associated playlist information into a formatcomprises serializing the user-defined playlist descriptor informationand the associated playlist information.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises synchronizing, uponreceiving an edit to the playlist, the user-defined playlist descriptorinformation and the associated playlist information with the playliststorage.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides one or morecomputer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereonwhich, when executed by one or more computing devices, implements themethod of creating a searchable playlist comprising: receiving at leastone media file selection indicating the desire to include at least onemedia file in a playlist; receiving user-defined playlist descriptorinformation associated with the playlist, the user-defined playlistdescriptor information comprising user developed text; receiving aninput indicating the desire to designate the playlist as public, thepublic designation causing user-defined playlist descriptor informationand information associated with the playlist to be searchable by asearching entity; and communicating to a playlist storage, user-definedplaylist descriptor information and the associated playlist informationso that the user developed text can be searched by a searching entity.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides one or morecomputer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereonwhich, when executed by one or more computing devices, implements themethod of identifying a published playlist comprising receiving, from asearching entity, search criteria representing a desire to identify aplaylist; accessing a playlist storage, the playlist storage comprisinguser published playlists, some or all of the published playlistscomprising associated user-defined playlist descriptor information, theuser-defined playlist descriptor information comprising user developedtext; searching the playlist storage to identify a desired playlistresult set comprising user published playlists with user-definedplaylist descriptor information relevant to the search criteria; andcommunicating the desired playlist result set to the searching entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawing figures, which form a part of this application,are illustrative of embodiments of the present disclosure and are notmeant to limit the scope of the disclosure in any manner, which scopeshall be based on the claims appended hereto.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is schematic illustrating an exemplary system architecture of oneembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representing a playlist entry according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary user interface according to one exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a method according to oneexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustrating an exemplary system architecture ofone embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a method for making aplaylist available to the public. In another embodiment, the presentdisclosure provides a method for creating a playlist comprisinguser-defined descriptor information, which can be entered as free formtext or prose rather than pre-selected information like a static genreor short title. In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides amethod for searching for such public playlists.

In one embodiment the ability to publish, create, and search for aplaylist is facilitated by a media management program. In a furtherembodiment a user interface of such a media management program allows auser to publish and search for playlists. In other embodiments,non-media management applications, programs, and/or servers are capableof searching for such published playlists.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary system configuration supporting the abilityto publish, create, and search for a playlist. As can be seen in FIG. 3,the exemplary system configuration comprises a device 335 connected to aprocessor 300 associated with a user 330. Further embodimentscontemplate multiple users each connected to the system configurationvia a processor as depicted in FIG. 13. In one embodiment, the devicemay comprise any type of computing device capable of rendering mediafiles. In another embodiment, the processor 300 may be located on acomputing device, which can be, by way of non-limiting example, apersonal computer, cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, or aportable media player, or any other device now known or to become knowncapable of carrying out the features and functions described herein. Asseen in FIG. 3, the processor may comprise a media engine 305, amessaging program 310, digital rights management (drm) 325, media files320, plug-in applications 315, and a local database 380 for storinginformation such as playlist information. In addition, through theinternet 340, the processor 300 is connected to a media server 360,other programs and servers 370 and a messaging platform 365. Of course,the processor can comprise any combination of necessary components knowto those skilled in the art in order to perform the functions describedherein. Further depicted in FIG. 3, the processor 300 is connected viathe internet 340 to a playlist program 345, a playlist storage 355, aplaylist index 375, webservices 350, a media server 360, messengerplatform 365, and other programs and servers 370. In one embodiment, theplaylist program 345 manages the exchange of information to and from theplaylist storage 355. In one embodiment, the playlist storage 355 storesall related playlist information. For example, as depicted in FIG. 3,the playlist storage stores playlist entries comprising user-defineddescriptor information as further described herein. In one embodiment,the playlist index 375 stores a subset of the playlist informationstored in the playlist storage 355 so that the processor 300 and/orother programs and servers 370 can easily and efficiently access thestored playlist information. In a further embodiment, only playlistswhich have been designated as public are stored in the playlist index375. Thus, the playlist index 375 may be accessed when searching forpublic playlists. In one embodiment, the web services 350 provideefficient manner or way to access the playlist storage 355 and/orplaylist index 375. In other embodiments, the webservices 350 may not benecessary to access the playlist storage 355 and/or a playlist index375. In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 3, other programs or servers370 are capable of being connected to the web services 350 and/orinternet 340. For example, in some embodiments, other programs orservers 370 can communicate with the playlist index 375, playlistprogram 345, and/or playlist storage 355 alone or independent of theprocessor 300 and/or media server 360. Thus, as depicted in FIG. 3,playlists are searchable by any user, program, server, or any entitywith an internet connection. In one aspect, the system configurationallows any other program and/or server 370, such as any non-mediamanagement program, to search for playlists and/or store created and/orpublished playlists for searching. For example, a user could search forplaylists, i.e./e. access the playlist index and/or playlist storage,from a search tool found in a downloadable toolbar such as for examplethe downloadable Yahoo! Toolbar. With reference to FIG. 3, multiplevariations and combinations of connections among the various componentsare contemplated. Furthermore, FIG. 3 is merely exemplary and not meantto limit the system configuration or architecture supporting the presentdisclosure in any way. Obvious variations of the components andconfigurations know to those skilled in the art are contemplated.

The publishing of a playlist according to one embodiment of the presentdisclosure will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 that depictsan exemplary method of the present disclosure. In one embodiment,referring to FIG. 1, first, the user creates 105 a playlist. Thisplaylist can be created in any number of different ways (i.e., usercreated, criteria playlists, affinity playlists) as known in the art. Inone embodiment, a playlist comprises at least one media file and/ormedia file identifier. In one embodiment, once the playlist is createdor during playlist creation, a user is able to enter user-defineddescriptor information with respect to the playlist. Unlike currentpublished playlists available in the art, user-defined descriptorinformation permits a user to creatively enter free-form text, prose,tags or keywords that the user believes describe characteristics of orfeelings or moods set by the user-published playlist. For example,present published playlists permit a user to identify a title, genre,and/or artist information for the playlist. This information is notentirely useful to a third party seeking to find a playlist for aspecific purpose, environment, mood, concept, or task, for example.User-defined descriptor information of the present disclosure, as usedherein, refers to any type of user-provided text, prose, tags, keywordsand/or descriptors describing a user's understanding, perception and/orfeelings toward, or the mood set by, a playlist, as opposed to the lessdescriptive associated metadata namely playlist title, or artist, genre,or media file title, which are static and while factual may notsatisfactorily provide sufficient characteristic information. Oneexemplary embodiment of a user interface capable of receivinguser-defined descriptor information is depicted in FIG. 2. Referring toFIG. 2, the user interface comprises a text field box 205 in which auser can enter user-defined descriptor information. In one embodiment,the user-defined descriptor information may comprise a playlistdescription as entered by the user. Then, by selecting a user inputindicia, such as a button 230, the user can save the user-definedplaylist information along with the playlist. For example, FIG. 5depicts a text description box 205 comprising user-defined descriptorinformation. In FIG. 5, the playlist description box 205 includes theuser-defined descriptor information “playlist for while at work. Notideal for working out.” In one embodiment, each time the playlist isaccessed, the user-defined descriptor information also appears alongwith the playlist. In further embodiments, the user can edit theuser-defined descriptor information as many times as the user desires.In another embodiment, the user-defined playlist information enteredinto the descriptive field box 205 is indexed or serialized along withthe playlist information into a storable playlist entry as described infurther detail herein.

Referring back to FIG. 1 once the playlist is created 105, a playlistentry is created. 110. In one embodiment, the playlist entry is created105 by serializing the playlist information and user-defined descriptorinformation into a searchable playlist entry format. In one embodiment,playlist associated metadata may comprise metadata about the playlistitself such as the playlist name, date created, the duration of theplaylist etc. Further, the playlist associated metadata may comprisemetadata about each media file within the playlist such as the title ofthe media file, artist, and album, length, date of creation, and/orrating. In one embodiment, the searchable playlist entry format maycomprise a series of searchable fields. For instance, an xml file orXSPF file structure. For example, XSPF standard comprises elements orfields such as title, annotation or comment, identity of the creator,info such as a uri or url, canonical ID, image associated with theplaylist, creation date, any licensing term, etc. Thus, in oneembodiment, when a playlist is created 105, the playlist information anduser-defined descriptor information is serialized into a searchableformat.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary playlist entry 400 derived from a playlistas depicted in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, the exemplary playlist 505entitled “Example Playlist” comprises five media files each listed bysong title 510, artist name 515, an indicator 520 of whether theplaylist is burnable to a cd or not, the genre 525 associated with themedia file, the duration 530 of the particular media file, and a rating535 associated with a media file. For example, the first media file 540in the playlist 505 is entitled “Brick,” by the artist “Ben Folds Five”which has duration of four minutes and forty-eight seconds. Further, ascan be seen in the user interface, the media file 540 is not burnableand is in the Modem Rock genre. Additionally, the playlist descriptiontext box 505 has been entered with user-defined descriptor information505 corresponding to the playlist. Accordingly, the playlist entrycorresponding to the playlist 505 can comprise some, all, or none of theinformation displayed in the user interface. Of course other,non-displayed information associated with the media files within theplaylist may comprise the playlist entry.

Accordingly, FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary playlist entry corresponding tothe playlist as depicted FIG. 5. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the exemplaryplaylist entry 400 comprises several fields 405-435. As depicted in FIG.4, one field 405 comprises a listing of all the titles associated withthe media files in the playlist. As seen, field 405 lists: Brick, Amber,Grace, It Ends Tonight, and Only the Good Die Young. Accordingly, withreference to FIG. 5, these are the same titles associated with the mediafiles of the playlist 505. Similarly, another field 410 comprises alisting of all the artists associated with the media files in theplaylist. As seen, field 405 lists: Ben Folds, 311, Jeff Buckley,All-American Rejects, and Billy Joel. Accordingly, with reference toFIG. 5, these are the same artists associated with the media files ofthe playlist 505. Further, field 420 lists the name of the playlistcreator, field 420 lists the name of the playlist, and field 430 liststhe genre associated with each media file in the playlist. In furtherembodiments, the playlist entry comprises a field 425 comprising stringsof text representing the user-defined descriptor information into thefield description box 205 as depicted in FIG. 5. For example, referringto FIG. 5, the text field description box 205 contains the user-definedplaylist information: “Playlist for while at work” and “Not ideal forworking out.” As described herein, in one embodiment, the playlistapplication is capable of serializing the user-defined descriptorinformation entered into the box into a useful field of the playlistentry. In one embodiment, the field 425 may comprise some or all of thetext entered into the text field description box 205. Further, allmethods known to those skilled in the art of serializing text into asearchable field are contemplated. Thus, the playlist is searchable byuser-defined descriptor information. As can be seen in FIG. 4, field 425comprises the text strings “Playlist for while at work” and “Not idealfor working out.” Further depicted in FIG. 4, a field entry 435 maycomprise pointers to the contents of the playlist and/or physicallyinclude the contents of the playlist. In a further embodiment a playlistfield entry may comprise a playlist id assigned and recognized among anonline media service. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a user or entityis capable of searching the contents of the playlist entry. Thus, theuser-defined descriptor information can be used to further enhanceindexing and searching capabilities. It is noted that not all of thefields in the playlist entry may be capable of searching. In furtherembodiments, it may be desirable to indicate which types of fields arenot preferred for searching such as the member's user name or profilename. Again, in one embodiment, the playlist entry can comprise anycombination of field entries gathered from different sources. Thus, inone embodiment, the categorical aggregation of fields into a usefulplaylist entry allows for efficient playlist searching capabilities.

Referring back to FIG. 1, once the playlist is created 105 and theplaylist entry is created 110, the playlist entry is stored 115 in aplaylist index and stored 120 in a playlist storage. In one embodiment,with reference to FIG. 3, the playlist storage 345 stores the playlistentries. Thus, the playlist storage contains all playlist information.In one embodiment, the playlist index 375 stores a subset of theplaylist entries stored in the playlist storage 355 so that theprocessor 300 and/or other programs and servers 370 can easily andefficiently access the stored playlist entries.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, the user can elect to publish125 a playlist. In one embodiment, when the playlist is selected aspublished 125, the playlist entry is updated within the playlist index130 and within the playlist storage 135. Similarly, when a publicplaylist is elected to become private (not depicted), the playlist entryis updated within the playlist index 130 and within the playlist storage135. In one embodiment, the playlist index 130 and/or playlist storage135 are not updated simultaneously upon publication or privatization.Instead, the playlist index 130 and/or playlist storage 135 are updatedupon a pre-determined time interval. In one embodiment, only publicplaylists are stored in the playlist index. Thus, by accessing theplaylist index for searching a playlist, only published playlists aresearchable.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, a user's playlist is by defaultconsidered private. Thus, a user must affirmatively choose to make aplaylist public. In one embodiment, a user may choose to publish theirplaylist, for example, by clicking on a user input indicia such as abutton or link. The user is preferably given the option of making thepublished playlist public, thus allowing other users to not only viewthe playlist but to listen to media listed in the playlist as well. Inone embodiment, the published playlist can contain pointers thatidentify the network location(s) at which the media file resides or maybe accessed (a pointer may comprise a URL or URI), metadata or actualmedia files, although preferably the playlist contains pointers to avoidthe need to store multiple copies of the same media file on the network.Thus, a playlist can be made available to a user at any location bypublishing the playlist. Thus, the ability to publish a playlist has theadded benefit of making the playlist completely portable by beingavailable to all users, as it will be residing on the media server orother user accessible location(s) on the network.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, through an exemplary user interface,the user is able to select the public feature 210 that publishes theplaylist. In one embodiment, selecting the public feature 210 causes avisual indictor to appear or highlighting or any other way ofemphasizing and indicating that a particular playlist is public. Forexample, in FIG. 2, the text of the public feature 210 “Make it public”becomes darken and bolded upon selection. Further, the user can selectthe private 235 feature at any point to remove the playlist from thepublic. Similar to selecting the public feature 210, selecting theprivate feature may cause a visual indictor to appear or highlighting orany other way of emphasizing and indicating that a particular playlistis private. Further, as depicted in FIG. 2, a user can also email 220 aplaylist, send 215 the playlist via an instant messaging application, orcopy 225 the playlist as a url to share with other users, for example byposting it on a blog or website. In a further embodiment, once aplaylist is selected as public, it is published on a profile page whichmay or may not be incorporated into a media management program asdescribed in further detail herein.

In one embodiment, the playlists are searchable through a user interfaceas depicted in FIG. 5. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the user interfacecomprises an area 560 for searching for playlists. In one exemplaryembodiment, the area for searching 560 for playlists comprises a dropdown menu 545 and a text field box 550. As can been seen in FIG. 5, theuser can select the “playlist” choice from the drop down menu 545, enterany search criteria into the text field box 550, and select searchindicia such as a button 555 to trigger a search for at least oneplaylist associated with the search criteria. In one embodiment, theplaylist program 345 as depicted in FIG. 3 can receive input criteriafrom a user 330 or other programs and services 370, reference theplaylist entries and retrieve and return the appropriate results back tothe user's processor 300 and/or other programs and servers 370. In oneembodiment, the processor 300 and/or other programs and servers 370 candirectly search the playlist index without use of the playlist program.In one embodiment, referring to FIG. 3, when a search input for aplaylist is received from the processor 300 and/or other programs andservers 370, it queries the playlist index 375 for matching playlists.In one embodiment, some or all of the information contained in aplaylist entry is searchable. In other embodiments, playlist entryinformation may be included in the entry and used for display in theuser interface, but may not be searchable. This could include the numberof songs or media files in the playlist, the images associated with thesongs in the playlist, the date the playlist was created and modified,and the genre names of the songs in the playlist. Of course, any otherassociated playlist information may be used as a field entry and may ormay not be searchable.

In one embodiment, the playlist search results are returned via a userinterface which displays the resultant playlists. In one embodiment, theuser interface may be incorporated in a media management program. Forexample, in FIG. 6, a user can search for playlists by choosing theplaylist parameter 605 from a drop down menu 545 and entering searchcriteria 610 into a text field box 550. Then, a user can select a button555 to trigger a search for playlists associated with the searchcriteria.

In one embodiment, the search criteria are used look for matches againstthe content of all the playlist field entries. For example, if thesearch criterion 610 is for the term “working” as depicted in FIG. 6,each playlist entry is referenced looking for the term “working.” Forexample, the term “working” may relate to playlists for a workingenvironment or even return playlists for working out. In any event, theinput criterion can search by any string of text representing anyportion or entire concept, situation, event, and/or mood. In oneembodiment, if any playlist field contains the term, the playlist willbe returned to the searching entity. For example, a playlist will bereturned if the term “working” is found in the playlist title field,user-defined descriptor information field, artist field, playlist titlefield, and/or genre field etc. It is important to note that in someembodiments, the playlists storage and playlist index are capable ofstoring playlist entries from multiple users and multiple sources. Thus,when a playlist search is triggered, a user or entity can searchplaylists created by any other user or source. Thus, the presentdisclosure allows users or entities to search for any playlist indexedand stored in the playlist storage and/or playlist index from anycreator and from any source.

An exemplary embodiment of the returned results from a playlist searchis depicted in FIG. 9. As can be seen in FIG. 9, in one embodiment, theplaylists matching the search criteria are displayed in a scrollablearea 905. As depicted in FIG. 9, the results of the playlist search maybe displayed in columnar format. In other embodiments, the results ofthe playlist search may be displayed in table format, in a menu, dropdown list or any other suitable way. Further, area 905 comprises a listof each of the matching playlist 910, 915, 920, 925, 930, and 935. Inone embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 9, each playlist is numbered 815,listed by title 825, by the member and/or user 945 who created and/orowns the playlist, key artists 830, and number 835 of media files withinthe playlist. In a further embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 9, a playlistmay also have listed a description column 950. In one embodiment, theplaylist description 950 column lists an excerpt of terms from theuser-defined descriptor information text box associated with eachplaylist. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the second returned playlist915 has descriptive terms such as “easy listening” and “mellow” and thethird returned playlist 920 has description terms such as “not forworking in groups.” Further, in cases where no user-defined descriptorinformation has been entered and associated with the returned playlist,those returned playlists will not display a description. For example,the first returned playlist 910 has a blank space in the descriptioncolumn 950. In other embodiments, the description column 950 maycomprise a URL, uri, or a pointer that directs a user to the fulluser-defined descriptor information. In other embodiments, simplytoggling over the terms in the description column 950 will cause thefull description to appear as an enlarged text box.

In a further embodiment, a user can filter the returned playlistresults. For example, as depicted in FIG. 9, a drop down menu 940filters the displayed results by displaying all of the results or someselect portion of the displayed playlists. For example, the playlistresults may be filtered according to popularity, recency, the identityof the associated members to show only friends' playlists, by usagerights (for example, to display playlists with only subscriptioncontent), and/or any identifiable associated playlist attribute such asartist, album or genre. In other embodiments, the filter parameters maybe set through a variety of presets or through a preference menu. Forexample, a preset could be selected for only displaying returnedplaylists that have the artist matching the search criteria. Of course,many combinations and variations of filter parameters as known to thoseskilled in the art are contemplated.

In some embodiments, the search criteria used to identify a playlist ishighlighted or otherwise emphasized in the user interface. The searchterm may be highlighted or emphasized using a particular color, a boxaround the text, via an icon, or any other known method of highlightingor emphasizing text and/or graphics in a user interface. In one aspect,this allows a user to easily view which field or playlist attributematched the search criteria. For example, referring FIG. 9, since thesearch criteria 610 was the term “working”; the term is boxed whereverit appears in the returned playlist user interface. As depicted in FIG.9, the term “working” appears in the description column 950 of the thirdplaylist “80's Music” 920, the fourth playlist ‘Working Tunes” 925, andthe sixth playlist “High Energy” 935. Meaning, in one embodiment, eachof these playlists has associated user-defined descriptor informationcomprising the term “working.” Also, the term is boxed in the title ofthe fourth playlist “Working Tunes” 925. Thus, in one embodiment, theuser interface displays the search term for quick and easy reference.

In other embodiments, instead of highlighting or otherwise emphasizingthe search term in the returned playlist display, the display maycomprise a column or some type of indicator that indicates where thesearch term is located with respect to the returned playlist. Forexample, the indicator or column can indicate that the search termappears in the title of a media file within the playlist, or is a partof the user-defined descriptor information, and so on.

In one embodiment, the returned playlist results are displayed as mediafile identifiers such as urls, uris, or pointers that can direct a userto the location of the playlist and/or its contents. Thus, through theuser interface as depicted in FIG. 9, a user can select any of thereturned playlists and/or the member name to further explore informationassociated with the playlist and/or member such as viewing and/orplaying the playlist.

FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary user interface if the “High Energy”playlist 935 is selected from the returned playlist user interfacedepicted in FIG. 9. As can be seen in FIG. 10, the media files of theselected playlist 935 are listed in an area 1005. Area 1005 lists eachmedia file in the playlist 935 by media file title 1015, artist 1020,and rating 1025. In a further embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 10, abutton 1030 allowing a user to add the media file to their local mediafile collection, a button 1010 allowing a user to play the media file,and a button 1035 allowing a user to purchase the media file and itsassociated price 1040 are also listed next to each media file of theplaylist 915. In a further embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 10, adescription text box 205 corresponding to the selected playlist isdisplayed. As depicted in FIG. 10, the description box 205 comprisesuser defined descriptor information 1045 “This was my playlist forworking out at the gym . . . when I was going to the gym.” Thus, it canbe seen that the search term “working” 610 appears the in the userdefined descriptor information 1045 associated with the “High Energy”playlist 935.

In a further embodiment, the playlist program is capable of weightingthe fields of a playlist in order to determine which playlists withfields matching the search criteria should be returned to the user orentity. For example, the artist name and media file title fields may beweighted more than the creator name field. Thus, a playlist is morelikely to be returned if a search criterion is found in the artist nameand/or media file name than if in the creator field. In otherembodiments, conditional logic is used to determine whether a particularplaylist is returned to a user. In other embodiments, a specific countof occurrences of an input criterion in a playlist entry is required inorder for a playlist to be returned to a user. In further embodiments,what playlists are returned is based, in part, on affinityrelationships. The playlist program can also use the popularity of aplaylist as measured by the amount of time other users spend listeningto it to influence relevancy by ranking popular playlists higher thanunpopular playlists. Playlist size may also be used as part of relevancyto ensure that users who search get useful playlists returned to them.Of course, many combinations and methods of selecting a playlist usingsearch criteria known to those skilled in the art are contemplated.

In one embodiment, once a playlist is selected to be public, it ispublished on a profile page of a media management program. In anotherembodiment, a user's profile page is accessible outside the context of amedia management program. Thus, in one embodiment, the profile page isaccessible from any authorized internet source. In one aspect, a profilepage comprises a page which collects and displays various informationabout a particular user. In one embodiment, all of a particular user'spublished playlists may be displayed on the user's profile page. FIG. 7depicts an exemplary embodiment of a user profile page. As can be seenin FIG. 7, the profile page comprises several areas 705, 725, 730, 740for displaying various types of information about the user. For example,area 725 displays user-defined text that describes the user's musicalinterests and/or preferences. Further, area 730 displays users appliedmedia file ratings organized by genre, album, and song, and photos ofthe user's highest-rated artists. Also, area 740 displays a user'slistening preferences. As depicted in FIG. 7, the user can edit eacharea as desired. In particular, area 705 displays a user's publishedplaylists. As can be seen in area 705, two playlists 715, 720 arelisted. The profile page may show the playlist titles 750, 745, alongwith information such as key artists (not depicted), the number of songsin the playlist (not depicted) and description information 755, 760.This description information 755, 760 may or may not be derived from theplaylist's associated user-defined descriptor information. Further, alink 710 is provided so that all of the user's published playlist may beviewed.

An exemplary embodiment of a user interface displaying all of a user'spublished playlists is depicted in FIG. 8. As can be seen in FIG. 8, auser's published playlists are displayed in a scrollable area 810 andare listed by number 815, playlist title and a representative playlistimage 825, key artists included in the playlist 830, and a number 835 oftotal media files within the particular playlist. For example, the firstplaylist displayed is entitled “Rock Songs” which has five total songsand “The Rolling Stones” and “U2” as the key artists. In one embodiment,the key artist 830 represents the more popular artists as defined by auser, an online music community, or via ratings within the particularplaylist. In another embodiment, the key artist 830 represents theartists with the highest reoccurrence within the playlist. In a furtherembodiment, the area 810 may also comprise a column for listinguser-defined descriptor information (not depicted). In a furtherembodiment, as depicted in FIG. 8, a corresponding categorical menu area850 comprises a playlist selection 840 which can be expanded 845 to showall playlists. Thus, area 850 allows for easy browsing of a user'splaylists. In one embodiment, area 850 provides a visual indicator (notdepicted) indicating whether a playlist is public or not. In oneembodiment, the visual indicator may comprise highlighting the publicplaylists, adding a particular icon next to each public playlist, orsubdividing the expanded menu 845 (not depicted) into public playlistand private playlists.

Further, in one embodiment, selecting the play 820 button next to eachplaylist will cause the playlist to be loaded and played by a mediamanagement program (such as media player like Yahoo! Music Engine orMusicMatch). Through such a media management program, a user can furthermanage their playlists. In one embodiment, the following variations andfeatures regarding managing and the collaborative playlist is controlledby the media management program. For example, a media managementprogram's user interface may allow the user to stop, rewind,fast-forward, pause, and or/stop the playing of the playlist. In anotherembodiment, the user can copy the playlist and rearrange and/or deletemedia files to customize the playlist. It is contemplated that userswill also be able to bookmark other users' playlists, enabling them tokeep access to a playlist even as the creator of the playlist makeschanges to it.

Providing access of a user's published playlist on a profile page allowsusers to further get to know other member's and browse their musicaltastes. Of course any combination and other areas of information arecontemplated. In one embodiment, users can control access to theirplaylists by making an individual playlist public or private, or bymaking the entire profile page public or private. Of course it iscontemplated that access to a user's playlist may be controlled byfurther detailed designations. For example, a user can designated thatall playlists are only publicly available to a designated list offriends, other users, or specific online community such as a messengercommunity.

In one embodiment, the ability to share and view playlists amongdifferent users will be dependent on certain Digital Rights Management(DRM). In one embodiment, the playlists created and viewed by anotheruser will contain sufficient DRM information to ensure that the userviewing the playlist has sufficient rights or a specific permissionlevel to permit the user to experience the media contained in theplaylist. In one embodiment, this function is controlled by the mediamanagement program.

In one embodiment, the ability of a user viewing and/or playing ofanother user's published playlist to access a media file and/or mediafile identifier is governed by a permission level. In one embodiment,the permission level may be triggered upon the user attempting to viewthe playlist. In another embodiment, the permission level may betriggered when the user attempts to play the playlist. Meaning, that inone embodiment, the user can view all playlists, but permission levelswill control whether a user can play the media files within thepublished playlist. Thus, in one embodiment, the ability to view and/orplay a media file and/or media file identifier in a published playlistmay be governed by a permission level. In one exemplary embodiment, thepermission level is associated with the media file. In another exemplaryembodiment, the permission level is controlled by a subscription from aservice provider. Rights and permissions can be managed by a DRMapplication or an associated media management application or mediaplayer or combination thereof.

In an exemplary embodiment, the permission level depends on each user'sstatus as a subscriber or a non-subscriber to an on-demand-streamingmedia service (ODSMS). For example, if the user who has published aplaylist is a subscriber and the user desiring to view and/or play thepublished playlist is also a subscriber, then the desiring user can havefull access to each ODSMS media file identifier on the playlist. Inanother exemplary embodiment, if the user publishing the playlist is asubscriber to an ODSMS and the user desiring to view and/or play thepublished playlist is a non-subscriber, then the desiring user may havelimited access to the ODSMS media files. For example, the desiring usermay be limited to a pre-determined length clip of each ODSMS media file,such as a 30-second clip when the desiring user plays the media file. Inanother example, the desiring user may be given a pre-determined numberof times the user can play each ODSMS media file. After thispre-determined number of times has been reached, the user is thenlimited to a default, pre-determined length of time for each media file(such as a 30-second clip). For example, the non-subscribing, desiringuser may be limited to playing an ODSMS media file at its full-length tothree times. Thus, once the user had played the media file and/or mediafile identifier three times, the user can now only listen to 30 secondclips of the media file. This allows a non-subscribing desiring user tolisten to ODSMS music otherwise not available to the user, whileenticing the user to subscribe to the service. Accordingly, in oneembodiment, once the user's pre-determined numbers of full-length playsare used, the user is prompted and has the option to subscribe to theODSMS.

Of course, these embodiments are not limited to ODSMS media files, butcan apply to any media files which require a specified level of sharing,viewing, and/or playing access. For example, it could be negotiated thatcertain media files generally not available for full-length sharingcould be shared and played between any status (subscribing ornon-subscribing) of users for a pre-determined number of times. Forexample, if there is a particular artist who wants to promote and/orentice users to listen to their media files, the artist or theirrepresentatives can allow a particular media file to be able to beviewed and/or played among any type of users. However, the users arelimited to playing the media file to a certain number of times.

In another embodiment, the user can further utilize the collaborativeplaylist by burning the playlist to a CD or transferring the media filesto a portable device. For example, the user can burn the media filedlisted in playlist in the media player window to a CD and/or transferthe media files to a portable device by clicking a button and selectingthe option from a drop-down menu. In some embodiments, the ability totransfer media files to a portable device or bum media files to a CD maydepend on whether the user has specified access to those media files.Particularly, the user may be required to pay for files not located onthe user's local media library. For example, the user may be required topay for files located on an on-demand, streaming media service. Thus,the user may be required to pay a price for each media file beforedownloading or burning the media files. In another example, the user maybe required to be subscriber to a service that allows the user todownload and bum media files. In a further embodiment, the user canperform any of the above managing functions in any combination as theuser desires using the media management program.

In a further embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 3, other programs orapplications and multiple users 370 can access the playlist program 345and the playlist storage 355 to search for playlists from non-mediamanagement applications. For example, other Yahoo! applications such asYahoo! Search could access the playlists and enable users to create,edit, and share playlists through the Search user interface.

In some embodiments, the playlist entries within the playlist storage355 and/or playlist index 375 are updated with all of a user's newlycreated or edited playlists. In one embodiment, it is important to keepthe playlist storage and/or playlist index currently updated with allthe newly created playlists and any edits made to the existing playlistsvia a user's local processor. In one embodiment, synchronizing allplaylist edits and newly created playlists among each user's localprocessor and the playlist storage and/or playlist index requires boththat each playlist be associated with an easy identifiable id and atechnique for noting whether each particular playlist has beensynchronized. For example, in one embodiment, once a playlist iscreated, it is associated with an id. In one embodiment, the id isgenerated by an online media service. Thus, the playlist is recognizablethroughout the service via its associated id. In further embodiments,other online communities or media services may have access to theseplaylist ids in order to catalogue, identify, and/or otherwise interfacewith the playlists by their associated id.

In one embodiment, the list of playlists and its associated ids aremaintained in a database 380 stored on a user's local processor 300 asdepicted in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the local database communicateswith all of the components of the local processor 300 including themedia engine 305. Further, in one embodiment, this local database 380also maintains a status list or status table comprising each playlist,its associated id, and a flag, marker, or other type of identifierindicating whether that playlist has been fully updated with respect tothe playlist storage 355 and/or playlist index 375. In one embodiment,the status table comprises only two states, updated and not-updated. Inone embodiment, a playlist is considered not-updated if any type of edithas been made to a particular playlist, or a new playlist has beencreated and the playlist has not been synchronized with the playliststorage 355 and/or playlist index 375. Thus, the local media engine 305can reference the database's status table to determine whether aparticular playlist needs to be synchronized with playlist storage 355and/or playlist index 375.

An exemplary synchronization process is depicted in FIG. 11. Anexemplary system architecture or configuration supporting thesynchronization process of FIG. 11 is depicted in FIG. 3. Referring toFIG. 11, the synchronization process may be triggered 1105 based on aparticular time interval such as every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes.In another embodiment, the synchronization process may be triggered 1105by an event such as starting the playlist application. In yet anotherembodiment, the synchronization process may be triggered when the userchanges any part of a playlist.

Once the process is triggered 1105, with reference to both FIG. 11 andFIG. 3 the local media engine 305 will request the local database 380 toupload to the playlist storage 355 and/or playlist index 375 anyplaylists that are flagged as not updated. In another embodiment, aplaylist is flagged as updated when a user creates a new playlist orwhen the user modifies an existing playlist. If the upload is successful1115, the local media engine 305 flags the each successfully uploadedplaylists as updated. In one embodiment, if the upload is not successful1120 or partially successful, each unsuccessfully uploaded playlist willremain flagged as not updated.

In some embodiments, multiple processors at different locations may beutilized by a single user and/or subscriber to an online media service.An exemplary system configuration comprising multiple processor idsdepicted in FIG. 13. As depicted in FIG. 13, the system configurationhas the same configuration and functionality as in FIG. 3, however withan additional processor 1300 and user 1330. For example, a user may havea processor at home 300 and a processor 1300 at work and would like toaccess all updated playlists from each processor 300, 1300. Thus, it isdesirable to further synchronize the edited playlists and any newplaylists among each of the processors 300, 1300. In one embodiment,media server 360 and/or playlist storage 355 maintains a list of eachuser's processor wherein each processor is associated with an id. Forexample, with reference to FIG. 13, processor 300 has an associate id of“ABC” and processor 1300 has an associated id of “DEF.” In a furtherembodiment, this list is maintained on the playlist program 345, and/orplaylist index 375. In one embodiment, when a playlist is updated anduploaded to the media server 360 and/or playlist storage 355 as depictedin FIG. 13, the media server 360 and/or playlist storage 355 will notewhich processor, via processor id, sent the uploaded playlists. Thus,the media server 360 and/or playlist storage 355 will know whichprocessor ids have the uploaded and updated playlists and whichprocessor ids do not have the uploaded and updated playlists. Anexemplary synchronization process is depicted in FIG. 12. An exemplarysystem architecture or configuration supporting such a synchronizationprocess is depicted in FIG. 13. It should be noted that this processapplies to any number of processors and the descriptions are merelyexemplary with respect to processor 1300. Further the actions performedby the processor 1300 as FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 can also be performed bythe media engine 1305. Referring both to FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, first, thesynchronization process is triggered 1205. In one embodiment, theprocess may be trigged by a pre-determined, configurable time intervalor by an event such as a user logging onto a processor. Once the processis triggered 1205, the local processor 1300 requests 1210 from theplaylist storage 355 to download any newly edited or newly createdplaylists to the local processor 1300. Further, in one embodiment, thisrequest 1210 may or may not be facilitated by the media server 360and/or playlist program 345 as depicted in FIG. 13.

Upon the request 1210, the playlist storage 355 and/or playlist index375 references the requesting processor's 1300 id to determine whetherit already has the updated playlists. If the processor 1300 already hasthe updated playlists, then the playlist storage 355 and/or playlistindex 375 will not need to download 1220 any information to therequesting processor 1300. If the processor 1300 does not have all theupdated playlists, the playlist storage 355, and/or playlist index 375sends 1225 a list of the playlist ids to be downloaded to the requestingprocessor 1300. In addition, when the list of playlist ids is downloadedto the requesting processor 1225, the local processor 1300 flags eachdownloaded playlist as not-updated. Thus, when appropriate, the localprocessor will synchronize the appropriate playlists as depicted in FIG.11 and when successfully downloaded, will flag each playlist as updated.

Playlists are not limited to music files and can include other audio orvideo files. For example, this system could be used to build playlistsof music videos or to develop playable lists of music, audio news,commentary, rrs feeds, podcasts, still images, and video content. In afuture application, users could be given tools to syndicate a playlistas an audio or video podcast.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and system ofthe present disclosure within the application may be implemented in manymanners and as such is not to be limited by the foregoing exemplaryembodiments and examples. In other words, functional elements beingperformed by a single or multiple components, in various combinations ofhardware and software, and individual functions can be distributed amongsoftware applications at either the client or server level. In thisregard, any number of the features of the different embodimentsdescribed herein may be combined into one single embodiment andalternate embodiments having fewer than or more than all of the featuresherein described are possible. Functionality may also be, in whole or inpart, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or tobecome known. Thus, myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations arepossible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces, andpreferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the presentdisclosure covers conventionally known and features of those variationsand modifications through the system component described herein as wouldbe understood by those skilled in the art.

1-46. (canceled)
 47. A method, comprising: generating a media contentplaylist at a computing device at least in part in response to a userselecting one or more media content items via one or more interactionswith the computing device, wherein the media content playlist is bydefault not publicly searchable; and allowing public searching of atleast a portion of the media content playlist at least in part inresponse to the user specifying via interaction with the computingdevice that the media content playlist be made publicly searchable. 48.The method of claim 47, wherein the generating the media contentplaylist at the computing device at least in part in response to theuser selecting one or more media content items comprises generating themedia content playlist at least in part in response to the userinteracting with a graphical user interface displayed by the computingdevice to select the one or more media content items.
 49. The method ofclaim 47, wherein the generating the media content playlist includesgenerating descriptor content.
 50. The method of claim 49, wherein theuser specifying via the interaction with the computing device that themedia content playlist be made publicly searchable comprises the userspecifying one or more portions of the descriptor content to remain notpublicly searchable.
 51. The method of claim 50, wherein the descriptorcontent comprises user profile content.
 52. The method of claim 47,further comprising not permitting public searching of the media contentplaylist at least in part in response to the user specifying via anadditional interaction with the computing device that the media contentplaylist be made not publicly searchable.
 53. The method of claim 52,further comprising allowing further display of the media contentplaylist on one or more other computing devices at least in part inresponse to the user specifying via the additional interaction with thecomputing device that the media content playlist be made not publiclysearchable.
 54. An apparatus, comprising: a processor to: obtain a userselection of one or more media content items; generate a media contentplaylist at least in part in response to the user selection of the oneor more media content items, wherein the media content playlist is to beby default not publicly searchable; and allow public search of at leasta portion of the media content playlist at least in part in response toan indication to be obtained from the user that the media contentplaylist be made publicly searchable.
 55. The apparatus of claim 54,wherein to obtain the user selection of the one or more content items,the processor to obtain the user selection via the user's interactionwith a graphical user interface.
 56. The apparatus of claim 55, whereinto generate the media content playlist, the processor to generatedescriptor content.
 57. The apparatus of claim 56, wherein theindication to be obtained from the user that the media content playlistbe made publicly searchable to comprise the user to specify one or moreportions of the descriptor content to remain not publicly searchable.58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the descriptor content tocomprise user profile content.
 59. The apparatus of claim 54, whereinthe processor further to not permit public search of the media contentplaylist at least in part in response to an additional indication fromthe user that the media content playlist be made not publiclysearchable.
 60. The apparatus of claim 59, the processor further toallow further display of the media content playlist on one or more othercomputing devices at least in part in response to the additionalindication from the user that the media content playlist be made notpublicly searchable.
 61. An article, comprising: a non-transitorystorage medium having stored thereon instructions executable by acomputing device to: obtain a user selection of one or more mediacontent items; generate a media content playlist at least in part inresponse to the user selection of the one or more media content items,wherein the media content playlist is to be by default not publiclysearchable; and allow public search of at least a portion of the mediacontent playlist at least in part in response to an indication to beobtained from the user that the media content playlist be made publiclysearchable.
 62. The article of claim 61, wherein to obtain the userselection of the one or more content items, the storage medium havingstored thereon further instructions executable by the computing deviceto obtain the user selection via the user to interact with a graphicaluser interface.
 63. The article of claim 62, wherein to generate themedia content playlist, the storage medium having stored thereon furtherinstructions executable by the computing device to generate descriptorcontent.
 64. The article of claim 63, wherein the indication to beobtained from the user that the media content playlist be made publiclysearchable to comprise the user to specify one or more portions of thedescriptor content to remain not publicly searchable.
 65. The article ofclaim 61, wherein the storage medium having stored thereon furtherinstructions executable by the computing device to not permit publicsearch of the media content playlist at least in part in response to anadditional indication from the user that the media content playlist bemade not publicly searchable.
 66. The article of claim 65, wherein thestorage medium having stored thereon further instructions executable bythe computing device to allow further display of the media contentplaylist on one or more other computing devices at least in part inresponse to the additional indication from the user that the mediacontent playlist be made not publicly searchable.